MLB Player News

Loaisiga (elbow) is close to throwing a live bullpen session, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.

Loaisiga underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow in early May and was subsequently moved to the 60-day IL. The righty reliever began a throwing program in mid-June and recently progressed to mound work. Throwing to live hitters will represent another step forward in Loaisiga's recovery, and a minor-league rehab stint may follow soon thereafter. There is a possibility that Loaisiga could return to the big-league bullpen before the end of July.

The Royals optioned Snider to Triple-A Omaha on Sunday.

Snider was recalled from Omaha at the start of July and has since allowed four earned runs over 4.2 innings while walking four batters and striking out three. Max Castillo will come up from Omaha to take Snider's spot in the bullpen.

The Royals recalled Castillo from Triple-A Omaha on Sunday.

Castillo was sent to Omaha in late May and has since posted a 3.52 ERA and 0.89 WHIP to go with a 28:5 K:BB through 38.1 innings. He's been used primarily as a starter in the minors but figures to serve as a multi-inning reliever while with the Royals. Collin Snider was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Garcia picked up the save Saturday against the Diamondbacks, allowing two hits while striking out one over a scoreless inning.

With Jordan Romano still recovering from a lower back injury, Garcia entered the contest with a 5-2 lead in the ninth inning and got into trouble early after allowing singles to Lourdes Gurriel and Jake McCarthy. However, the right-handed reliever managed to pitch his way out of it, needing just four pitches to retire the final two batters and secure his second save of the season. Garcia is now 2-for-2 in save opportunities and has not allowed a run since June 17 against the Rangers.

Bautista struck out one in a perfect ninth inning Saturday to record his 25th save of the season during Saturday's 6-5 win over the Marlins.

The right-hander failed to fan multiple batters for the first time since June 18, but he remained dominant as he topped out at 101.6 mph with his fastball and needed only 10 pitches (eight strikes) to breeze through the heart of Miami's order. Bautista has been scored upon only once in his last 18 appearances, and the 28-year-old closer has a minuscule 1.02 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 87:19 K:BB through 44 innings on the season.

Smith struck out two batters over 1.2 hitless and scoreless innings to earn a hold in Saturday's 2-0 win over Cleveland.

Smith, who needed just 19 pitches to get those five outs, shepherded the lead to the ninth inning for Aroldis Chapman, who was as efficient as Smith in picking up his first save since joining Texas. Earlier in the day, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy announced that Smith and Chapman would be co-closers, per Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com. Smith's value obviously takes a hit with the new arrangement, but he's converted 15 of 17 save opportunities and is a trusted arm.

Chapman allowed one hit and struck out two over a scoreless ninth inning to record a save in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Guardians.

Chapman threw 10 of 12 pitches for a strike to record his first save since joining the Rangers at the end of June. Texas manager Bruce Bochy announced earlier in the day that Chapman will share the closer role with Will Smith, and the manager wasted no time giving the recent bullpen addition his first opportunity. Smith was used as the bridge, getting five outs before Chapman took over. Bochy said whichever reliever gets the call to close out games will depend on the set of hitters due up. Both are lefties, so it will not be solely based on lefty-righty matchups.

Scott was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on Sunday, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

The journeyman right-hander finds himself in DFA limbo again after four outings with the Red Sox, including appearances in both of the team's first two games following the All-Star break. He had previously been designated for assignment by the Dodgers in June. Scott has allowed eight runs on 12 hits and eight walks in 9.2 total innings this season.

Graveman picked up a save against Atlanta on Saturday, allowing one run on three hits while striking out one batter over one inning.

Graveman was asked to protect a two-run ninth-inning lead and nearly blew it. The right-hander served up a leadoff homer to Ronald Acuna Jr., then saw two of the next three batters reach base to put runners on the corners with one out. However, Graveman was able to induce a game-ending double-play groundout from Sean Murphy to escape with the save. The veteran reliever leads Chicago with eight saves on the campaign, though he'll likely revert back to a setup role in the near future with Liam Hendriks (elbow) back to tossing bullpens and seemingly nearing a return.

Fairbanks earned a save against the Royals in Game 2 of a twin bill Saturday, allowing one hit and striking out one batter over one inning.

Fairbanks got the call from the bullpen with Tampa Bay up two runs in the ninth inning. He allowed a leadoff single to Salvador Perez but retired the next three batters in order to wrap up the win. Fairbanks has recorded all five of the Rays' saves since he returned from the injured list June 15, allowing just one run and posting an 8:3 K:BB over 6.2 innings across seven contests during that stretch.